Double King Me

King of Okito

This week we received a shipment of four Okito effects from a private collector. Having one Okito piece in the Hocus Pocus Showroom is cause for excitement, but having four pieces all arrive on the same day was almost mind-boggling. We received these pieces in Okito: Bowl of Gobi, Cut-Restored Tape Mystery, Checker Cabinet and Triangular Mystery. In my life, I’ve never seen more than one piece of Okito at a time and now there are four, excuse me three now, that are in the Showroom. These are truly works of art, from the exquisite hand painting to the beautiful decals. I know I won’t have these around very long so I took a picture to mark the occasion.

Paul with Okito items in Hocus Pocus Showroom

Seeing Double

I love old carnival sideshows. Years ago, I had a two-headed baby made of rubber, known as a “bouncer” in the trade, and I kept it in a jar of what appeared to be formaldehyde. It sat in my office with my other sideshow gaffs like shrunken heads, two-headed chickens, the Chupacabra…you get the picture. This week, we had some drop in visitors who actually run carnival sideshows. They took one look at this and said, “Name your price.” So I named my price, which I thought was an outrageous, they’ll never buy it price, and they bought it. I didn’t really want to sell it, but what are you gonna do? They paid me, I gave it to them and they left with my sideshow treasure. The next morning, still feeling the sting of my “loss”, a visiting magician showed up in my office with a large box and said, “I’ve got something you’ve never seen before” and I’m thinking, “Right, how many times have I heard that one before.” Well, apparently I haven’t heard it enough because when he opened the box there was, indeed, something I had never seen before; a two-headed ventriloquist figure. Score! Two-heads are better than one; just take a look at this…

Tim and Paul with the ventriloquist figure in the Hocus Pocus Showroom

Great News at Home

Betty and I had some great news this week. First, Max received his acceptance letter to CSU Fresno for the Fall Semester. Max will be in his Junior year of college and begin course-work for his Business major. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before he starts giving me business advice! Secondly, but no less important, our daughter Renee just received (and accepted) a job offer as a Counselor with the school district; I know she is going to be a great Counselor to those kids! Congratulations to both of you, we are so proud of your accomplishments!